British Hotel Owners Say Ban on Unmarrieds Occupying Same Room Is Not Sexual Orientation Discrimination

In Britain, a Christian couple who own a seaside hotel in Cornwall are facing civil charges that they violated the Equality Act by refusing to rent a double room to a gay couple. According to today's Bearsden Herald, owners Peter and Hazelmary Bull, however, say they were not discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation. They say they have a general policy, based on their religious beliefs about marriage, of not allowing unmarried couples-- heterosexual or gay-- to occupy the same room. A two-day hearing in the case is scheduled to begin Monday in Bristol County Court.